It is a peculiarity of Australian policy-making that a decision with major import for our society, economy and environment -- namely the size of our annual intake of permanent migrants -- is made in virtual secrecy and announced in an obscure line of the annual budget papers and an equally obscure line of a Departmental press release. The decision is important because our prescribed annual migrant intake (last year it was set at 190,000) makes a … [Read more...]

John Faulkner is one of Australia's most respected Senators - on either side of politics. He is now making a compelling case for more enhanced oversight of Australia's rapidly growing intelligence establishment, in his essay published in the Financial Review: Surveillance, intelligence and accountability: an Australian story.
Since 2001 (September 11) there have been 62 new pieces of anti-terror legislation passed and enacted in Australia. … [Read more...]